Reggie Watts
Watts in December 2008
Background information
Birth name	Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts
Born	(1972-03-23) March 23, 1972 (age 40)
Genres	Observational comedy, surreal comedy, electronic music, trip hop, soul
Instruments	Voice, loop sampler, piano, synthesizers
Associated acts	Maktub, Soulive
Website	reggiewatts.com
Notable instruments
Line 6 DL4 delay modeler, Electro Harmonix 2880, iPhone

Reggie Watts (born March 23, 1972) is a Brooklyn-based comedian and musician. His shows are mostly improvised and consist of stream of consciousness stand-up in various shifting personae, mixed with loop pedal-based a cappella compositions. He performs regularly on television, radio, and in live theater. His comic skills come into play in improvisational performance, as well as performance of written music.

Early life (1972–1990)[link]

Born in Germany as Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts,^[1][2] Watts is the only child of Christiane and Charles Alphonso Watts; his mother is French and his father is African-American.^[3] His father was an officer in the United States Air Force and the family lived in Germany and Spain before relocating to Great Falls, Montana, where Watts was raised and graduated from Great Falls High School.^[2] Watts also took piano and violin lessons from the age of five until he was 16.^[4]

Seattle (1990–2004)[link]

Watts moved to Seattle at age 18 where he briefly attended the Art Institute of Seattle before eventually studying jazz at Cornish College of the Arts.^[1] He went on to play in a number of Seattle bands of wildly varying styles/genres, including Hit Explosion, Swampdweller, Action Buddy, Chiarrscuro, Clementine, Smell No Taste, Wayne Horvitz 4+1 Ensemble,^[5] Das Rut, Synthclub, Elemental, Eyvand Kang Seven Nades, Free Space, etc. He became the front man for soul, rock, and hip hop group Maktub, with whom he has recorded five albums.^[6][7]

In Seattle, Watts became interested in alternative performance styles. He composed musical scores for Northwest dance choreographers KT Niehoff, Amy O'Neal, Maureen Whiting, Pat Graney and Beth Huerta. He dabbled in sketch comedy with future theatrical collaborator Tommy Smith.^[8]

Watts' genesis as a solo performer started to emerge at the beginning of 2002. While touring years earlier with the Wayne Horvitz 4+1 Ensemble, Watts was forced to downsize his effects pedal from a Roland Space Echo tape delay to a Line 6 DL4 delay modeler, a smaller device that makes it easy to travel. He began using the Line 6 in live shows with Maktub, in order to replicate the duplicate harmonies from the recorded material. Then he experimented with improvising entire songs in solo acts with the Line 6, playing initial gigs at small Seattle venues and artist bungalows. Inspired by The State and Wet Hot American Summer, he began infusing spontaneous comedic material with the beat box-driven musical compositions.^[9]

Brooklyn/Manhattan (2004–present)[link]

Wanting to concentrate on solo comedic performance, Watts moved to the Lower East Side, New York City, in 2004. He shot comedic web shorts for Superdeluxe, Vimeo and CollegeHumor, where his video "What About Blowjobs?" became a viral hit. He also formed a theatrical collaboration with playwright Tommy Smith, and began developing web philosophy/content with online entrepreneur Jakob Lodwick, with whom he recorded the EP Pot Cookies. Moving to Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 2006, Watts started to branch out into performing for television and film, while continuing to pursue live performance and the creation of new performance technologies.^{[citation needed]}

Solo performance[link]

Watts was the opening act for Conan O'Brien on The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, and appeared as the musical guest on the sixth, twenty-eighth, fifty-first, and 108th episodes of Conan.^[10] He also recently recorded material for his Comedy Central special Why Shit So Crazy?, released as a dual DVD/CD package.^[7]

Watts' recent solo comedic experience includes gigs at Fusebox, SXSW, Bonnaroo, Brian Eno's Luminous Festival at the Sydney Opera House, The Louvre, Montreal Comedy Festival, PopTech!, Soho Theatre (London), Vancouver Comedy Festival, CollegeHumor's "CH Live" stand-up comedy series, The Edinburgh Festival, Bumbershoot, The Sydney Festival, Sasquatch, Outside Lands Festival and cities throughout the world including Amsterdam's Boom Chicago, Paris, Cologne, Madrid, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Cape Town and Reykjavik, among others.

Watts frequently collaborates with performers/musicians around the globe. He appeared as part of the Ensemble cast of UK beatboxer Beardyman's Complete and Utter Shambles show at the Udderbelly during its residency at South Bank. He was the opening act for Regina Spektor on her European tour; he recorded vocals for Spektor's song "Dance Anthem of the 80s". He collaborated with French singer Camile Dalmais in a performance at the Centre Pompidou, Paris. He also contributed two tracks to DFA Records' Spaghetti Circus. He also performed with dance-punk band LCD Soundsystem during their first two farewell shows at Terminal 5 in New York City, and again at their final show at Madison Square Garden.

Watts' second stand-up special, Reggie Watts: A "Live" in Central Park, premiered on May 12, 2012 on Comedy Central in the "Secret Stash" completely uncensored.^[11]

Television/video[link]

On screen, Watts has appeared on Conan, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, HBO's The Yes Men Fix the World,^[12] Comedy Central's Michael and Michael Have Issues, Iceland TV, UK's "Funny Or Die," PBS' revamped The Electric Company and the music video "What About Blowjobs?" for CollegeHumor.^[2]

Waverly Films recently shot a one-hour special on Watts called "Why Shit So Crazy?". Created as a dual DVD/CD, the special features Watts in live performance at New York venues Galapagos, The Bellhouse and Le Poisson Rouge, bookended with brief sketches and a music video of Watts' "Fuck Shit Stack". As a composer, he wrote and performed music for comedian Louis CK's show, Louie,^[13] and created the theme songs for Key & Peele, Comedy Death-Ray Radio and Kristen Schaal's Penelope Princess of Pets. In 2010, Watts appeared on the Movie Network/Movie Central/HBO Canada produced Funny As Hell, a comedy series taped during the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, Quebec.^[14]

In 2012, Watts will co-star as the music portion of the new "Independent Film Channel" show titled "Comedy Bang Bang", based on the comedy podcast of the same name (formerly "Comedy Death-Ray Radio").^[15]

Also in 2012 Watts was in the Peter Serafinowicz directed music video for the Hot Chip song 'Night and Day' ^[16]

Theatre[link]

Starting in 2007, Watts began creating experimental multi-media theater with long-time friend and playwright Tommy Smith.^[8] They have generated four pieces, Transition, Disinformation, Radioplay and Dutch A/V. The collaborations between Watts and Smith feature a wide array of performing artists including dancer/choreographer Amy O'Neal (locust), comedian/actor Beth Hoyt, singer Orianna Herrman (Oracle), journalist Brendan Kiley ("The Stranger"), aerial artist Jeslyn Kelly (Fuerzabruta), and projected imagery by ex-Wooster Group video artist Joby Emmons.

Transition played at The Under The Radar Festival at The Public Theater, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art's Time Based Art Festival and On the Boards (Seattle); it was also the winner of the MAP Fund Award and Creative Capital award. Disinformation was seen at the UTR Festival, PICA: TBA, The Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), The Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh), and ICA (Boston). Radioplay premiered at Ars Nova (New York), and played at Seattle Rep (Bumbershoot), IRT Theater (New York) and Redhouse (Syracuse). Dutch A/V, a live environmental film performance and winner of the MAP Fund Award, was workshopped at IRT Theatre (New York).

Watts and Smith also regularly host Occurrence, a cabaret of alternative performers, which has been seen at Ars Nova, Galapagos, The Tank, Leftbank (Portland) and various other venues. A recording of their show Transition at On the Boards helped launch the first-ever live performance download website, OTBTV.

Awards[link]

He is winner of the 2005 Malcolm Hardee "Oy Oy" Award, the 2006 Andy Kaufman Comedy Award, and the 2006 Seattle Mayor's Arts Award.^[17] He was also awarded the 2008 MAP Fund and the 2009 Creative Capitol Grant for the performing arts, and won the 2009 ECNY Award for Best Musical Comedy Act.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Author Alice Walker is Watts' second cousin^[1] but he has not met her.^[18]

Discography[link]

• Simplified (2004)
• Pot Cookies (EP) (2008)
• Why Shit So Crazy? (2010)^[19]
• Live At Third Man (2011)^[20]
• A Live At Central Park (2012)

With Wayne Horvitz

• 4+1 Ensemble (Intution, 1996 [1998])
• From a Window (Avant, 2000)

Filmography[link]

• Tell Your Friends! (2011) as Himself
• The Yes Men Fix the World (2009) as Himself^[12]
• Steel of Fire Warriors 2010 A.D. (2008) as Mutantzoid Underling in Bar

References[link]

External links[link]

• Reggie Watts Website
• Reggie Watts at the Internet Movie Database
• Reggie Watts on Twitter
• Official "Fuck Shit Stack" video
• Official "What About Blowjobs?" video
• ReggieWatts/TommySmith Theatre

Lynne McTaggart (born 1951) is an American journalist, author, publisher, lecturer, and spokesperson.^[1] According to her author profile, she is a spokesperson "on consciousness, the new physics, and the practices of conventional and alternative medicine".^[2] McTaggart is co-executive director of Conatus and is the author of six books, including The Intention Experiment and The Field.^[2]

Career[link]

In her autobiography, McTaggart reports that she had an illness and identified "a toxic yeast" as the cause. Then, in conjunction with a homeopathic doctor, she developed a special diet that she says cured it.^[3] As a result, her husband, Bryan Hubbard, suggested that McTaggart write a newsletter on the risks of some medical practices and he devised the title: "What Doctors Don't Tell You". In 1996, McTaggart published a book using the same name.^[3] She also published a "What Doctors Don't Tell You" handbook criticizing childhood vaccinations in 1992 and a cancer handbook, which was updated in 2000. She and her husband run a company, Conatus, which publishes newsletters and magazines related to health and spirituality including, What Doctors Don't Tell You, PROOF!, and Living the Field.^[3][4][5]

McTaggart says about the relationship of the medical industry and the public: "the roles are the reverse of what many people think: we debate with fact against an establishment which argues with emotion."^[3]

In her book The Field, McTaggart discusses scientific discoveries that she says support the theory that the universe is unified by an interactive field.^[6] The book has been translated into fourteen languages.^[4] In a later book, The Intention Experiment, she discusses research in the field of human consciousness which she says supports the theory that "the universe is connected by a vast quantum energy field" and can be influenced by thought.^[4][7] This book has been translated into eighteen languages.

McTaggart has a personal development program called "Living The Field," which is based on an interpretation of the zero point field as applied to quantum mechanics.^{[citation needed]} She appears in the extended version of the movie What the Bleep Do We Know!?,^[8] as well as the movie, The Living Matrix - The Science of Healing.

Criticism[link]

What Doctors Don't Tell You has been cited for factual errors in their attacks on medicine, such as confusing the antiviral drug Tamiflu for a vaccine and attributing deaths to a nonexistent avian influenza vaccine.^[9]

The Field has been characterized by Mark Henderson of The Times as pseudoscience, focusing on her personal understanding of quantum physics as a misconception.^[10]

Personal[link]

McTaggart is married to publisher Bryan Hubbard and lives in London with her two daughters.^[2][11]

Books[link]

• Kathleen Kennedy: Her Life and Times (1983) ISBN 0-385-27415-7
• What Doctors Don't Tell You: The Truth About The Dangers Of Modern Medicine (1999) ISBN 0-380-80761-0
• The Cancer Handbook: What's Really Working (2000) ISBN 1-890612-18-9
• The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe (2003) ISBN 0-06-093117-5
• The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World (2007) ISBN 0-00-719458-7
• The Bond: Connecting through the Space Between Us (2011) ISBN 1-4391-5794-4; ISBN 978-1-4391-5794-7

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lynne McTaggart's umbrella website
• The Intention Experiment community Website
• SYNCD.org Lynne McTaggart on quantum physics, consciousness, time and intention
• What Doctors Don't Tell You
• Works by or about Lynne McTaggart in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2009)

Graham Norton
Norton in May 2010
Birth name	Graham William Walker
Born	(1963-04-04) 4 April 1963 (age 49) Clondalkin, Dublin, Ireland
Medium	Television, radio, stand-up
Nationality	Irish
Years active	1992–present
Genres	Observational comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday life, pop culture, current events, celebrities, sex
Notable works and roles	So Graham Norton V Graham Norton The Graham Norton Effect Graham Norton's Bigger Picture The Graham Norton Show

Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton, (born 4 April 1963)^[1] is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist. He is the host of comedy chat programme The Graham Norton Show on BBC One in the UK and BBC America in the US. Hot Press has described him as "the 21st century's answer to Terry Wogan", with both men sharing an Irish background and the common link of being a BBC Radio 2 presenter and the BBC television commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest.^[2] Norton has won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance on five occassions.

Early life and career[link]

Norton was born in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin, but grew up in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland to a Protestant family. He was educated at Bandon Grammar School, in County Cork and then University College Cork but did not complete his studies.

In 1992 his stand-up comedy drag act in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a tea-towel clad Mother Teresa of Calcutta made the press when Scottish Television's religious affairs department mistakenly thought he represented the real Mother Teresa.^[3]

His first appearances in broadcasting were in his spot as a regular comedian and panellist on the BBC Radio 4 show Loose Ends, when the show ran on Saturday mornings, in the early 1990s. His rise to fame began as one of the early successes of Channel 5, when he won an award for his performance as the stand-in host of a late-night TV talk show usually presented by Jack Docherty.^[4][5] This was followed by a comic quiz show on Channel 5 called Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment, which was not well received as a programme, but did further enhance Norton's individual reputation as a comic and TV host. In 1996, Norton co-hosted the late-night quiz show Carnal Knowledge on ITV with Maria McErlane.

In 1996, Norton played the part of Father Noel Furlong in three episodes ("Hell", "Flight Into Terror", "The Mainland") of the Channel 4 series Father Ted. Father Noel Furlong was often seen taking charge of a small youth folk-group.

Channel 4[link]

After this early success, Norton moved to Channel 4 to host his own chat shows including So Graham Norton and V Graham Norton. As a performer who is not only openly gay,^[6] but also camp and flamboyant, it was here that Norton's act was fully honed as a cheeky, innuendo-laden joker.

In 2003, he was the subject of controversy when, on his show on Channel 4, he made a comedic reference to the recent death of Bee Gees singer Maurice Gibb. The Independent Television Commission investigated after complaints about this insensitivity were forwarded to it and eventually Channel 4 had to make two apologies: one in the form of a caption slide before the show, another from Norton in person.

Also in 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. (Though Norton is Irish, the bulk of his television career has been in the UK.)

In the summer of 2004, Norton moved across the Atlantic to start a new venture in American television. The Graham Norton Effect debuted on 24 June 2004 on Comedy Central, and was also broadcast in the UK on BBC Three. In the midst of controversy surrounding Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance, Norton was wary of moving into the market.^[7]

BBC[link]

Norton at 2009 BAFTA awards

In 2005, Norton moved to the BBC and began hosting the Saturday evening reality TV series Strictly Dance Fever on BBC One, as well as a new comedy chat show, Graham Norton's Bigger Picture. He also read stories some nights on the BBC children's channel CBeebies as part of Bedtime Hour.

In 2006, Norton hosted the BBC One series How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? in which Andrew Lloyd Webber tried to find a lead actress for his West End version of The Sound of Music. Norton has subsequently presented the 3 follow-up series: Any Dream Will Do in 2007, in which a group of males competed to win the role of Joseph in the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; I'd Do Anything in 2008, in which Andrew Lloyd Webber seeks to find the part of Nancy and Oliver for Sir Cameron Mackintosh's production of Lionel Bart's Oliver!; and Over the Rainbow in 2010, following a similar format to find a new Dorothy for a Wizard of Oz West end Production.

Norton hosted various other shows for the BBC during this time, including When Will I Be Famous? (2007), The One and Only (2008) and Totally Saturday (2009). Since 2007, Norton has also been a regular host of The British Academy Television Awards. On 7 July 2007, Norton presented at Live Earth and undertook a trip to Ethiopia with the Born Free Foundation to highlight the plight of the Ethiopian wolf – the rarest canid in the world. In the same year, he was the subject of an episode of the BBC1 genealogy documentary Who Do You Think You Are?.

Norton's chat show, The Graham Norton Show, began on 22 February 2007 on BBC Two. Although in a format that he had not been involved in for 4 years, it is very similar to his previous Channel 4 shows. On 6 October 2009, the show moved to BBC One, in a new one-hour format.

In May 2010, he stood in for Chris Evans' breakfast show on BBC Radio 2. Later that month, it was confirmed that he would be replacing Jonathan Ross's Saturday morning slot on the same station.

In December 2011, the panel show Would You Rather...? with Graham Norton premiered on BBC America in the time slot immediately following The Graham Norton Show. Recorded in New York, it is one of BBC America's earliest efforts at producing original programming, and is also the first panel game the channel has shown, either of British or American origin.

In January 2012, he called on listeners to his Radio 2 show to help find his car hours after it was stolen. He called it "The Great Car Hunt" and told listeners to “Keep your eyes out for it. It was filthy by the way."

Eurovision[link]

Norton with Josh Dubovie at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010

Norton hosted the first annual Eurovision Dance Contest alongside Claudia Winkleman which was held on 1 September 2007 in London, England. The format was based on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and the EBU's Eurovision Song Contest. Norton and Winkleman also hosted the 2008 Contest in Glasgow, Scotland.

In October 2008, it was confirmed by the BBC that Norton would replace Terry Wogan as the BBC's presenter for the UK heats of the Eurovision Song Contest, in a show to be called Your Country Needs You.

On 5 December 2008 it was announced that Norton would also take over from Wogan as the presenter of the main Eurovision Song Contest.^[8] The 54th Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Olimpiyskiy (Olympic) Stadium, Moscow on 16 May 2009.

Norton's jokes during his debut received some positive reviews from the British media. The Guardian noted his comments on Iceland's entry, which finished in second place, had "rooted around in a cupboard and found an old bridesmaid dress from 1987" and the Armenian singers, who finished in tenth place, were sporting traditional dress, "which would be true if you come from the village where Liberace is the mayor."^[9] The Times noted his highlighting of the arrest of thirty gay rights protesters in Moscow – "heavy-handed policing has really marred what has been a fantastic Eurovision."^[9]

His comment “The bad news is you’re about to watch Albania. She’s only 17 so please bear that in mind. Where was her mother? Why didn’t she step in and say no?” which was made just before Albanian singer Kejsi Tola was set to take the stage dubbed an insult by many, sent ripples of outrage through not only Albania, but also the Albanian population in Britain. He then announced that Albania should get no points and that he didn't care what anybody else thought. There was a petition circling the net calling for a formal apology from Norton. The petition, which called his comment “very rude and insulting,” had drawn over 1,000 signatures. He never responded.^[10]

In 2011, he snarked that if Jedward's entry into the competition that year won, the twins would never sleep again. In the end, they were eighth. Earlier in that year's televote, he joked "Quick, someone take a picture", when The British entry that year went temporarily in the lead early on after high votes from Russia(4), Bulgaria(12) and Italy(10). In the end, the song dropped down the 11th, earning 100 points. Very annoyed, Norton claimed 'We were better than Jedward'.

In 2012, Norton joked about the Spanish singer Pastora Soler and the economic situation of Spain. This statements unleashed many bad reviews on the internet. Norton joked about Rona Nishliu (the singer of Albania) too. He said that Rona was a singer that "she shout a lot".

Other[link]

In July 2000 Graham was one of three judges of the Miss Lesbian Beauty Contest 2000 held at The Talk of London, Drury Lane. The contest was won by 42 year old Carol Hutchins who wowed the audience with her sit-down comedy routine from a wheelchair. Graham described Carol as a "very bright, funny lady."

Graham Norton played Mr. Puckov in the 2006 American comedy spoof film Another Gay Movie. In 2007, Norton played Taylor in the romantic comedy film I Could Never Be Your Woman.

Norton was involved in a high-publicity advertising campaign for the UK National Lottery as an animated unicorn, the stooge to a character based on Lady Luck (played by Fay Ripley). He has also advertised McVitie's biscuits.

In 2007, Norton featured in Girls Aloud and Sugababes' Comic Relief video for the single "Walk This Way."

In January 2009, Norton made his West End stage debut in a revival of La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre.

Since 2009, Norton has been the host of the comedy game-show Most Popular on US cable television channel WE tv.^[11]

Norton currently writes an advice column in The Daily Telegraph newspaper. In October 2010, these columns were made into a book entitled Ask Graham, published by John Blake Publishing.

Personal life[link]

Norton with a dog in 2006, supporting Crusaid.

Norton has stated that he felt "out of place" growing up in Ireland; his family are Protestant yet the Republic of Ireland is overwhelmingly Catholic. Norton took part in the TV programme, Who Do You Think You Are?, to trace his ancestry. It was discovered that his family were originally planters sent over from England to take over Irish land. Some members of his family had fought for the British Monarchy during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and taken part in a massacre of Catholics in Carnew Castle. Another member of his family was later killed in battle by the United Irishmen. Norton said he was comforted to find out that his family had resided in Ireland for generations.^[12]

In 1989 while living in London, Norton was mugged, beaten and stabbed by a group of attackers on the street. He says he lost half his blood and nearly died, and he was hospitalised for two and a half weeks.^[13][14]

Norton is openly gay.^[6][15][16]

Norton owns a holiday home in Ahakista, County Cork, which is near to where he grew up, in Bandon. The house has a private beach and overlooks Dunmanus Bay.

TV appearances[link]

Main presenting credits[link]

• Carnal Knowledge (TV series, co-presenter) (1996, 27 one hour shows)
• Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment
• So Graham Norton (1998–2002)
• V Graham Norton (2002–2003)
• NY Graham Norton (2004)
• The Graham Norton Effect (2004–2005)
• Graham Norton's Bigger Picture (2005–2006)
• Strictly Dance Fever (2005–2006)
• BBC/Andrew Lloyd Webber musical theater talent searches (2006–present)
  • How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? (2006)
  • Any Dream Will Do (2007)
  • I'd Do Anything (2008)
  • Over the Rainbow (2010)
• The Big Finish (2006–)
• When Will I Be Famous? (2007)
• The Graham Norton Show (2007–present)
• The British Academy Television Awards (2007)
• Live Earth (2007)
• Eurovision Dance Contest (2007)
• The One and Only (2008)
• Eurovision Dance Contest (2008)
• Eurovision: Your Country Needs You (2009–present)
• Eurovision Song Contest (UK commentator, 2009–present)
• Totally Saturday (2009)
• Most Popular (2009–present)
• Would You Rather...? with Graham Norton (BBC America, 2011–present)

Other television credits[link]

Radio[link]

• Just a Minute

Sitting in for Steve Wright August 2009 BBC Radio 2

Sitting in for Chris Evans May /July 2010 BBC Radio 2

On 2 October 2010, he began his weekly BBC Radio 2 Saturday show taking over from Jonathan Ross. The show airs from 10.00am-1.00pm and combines a mixture of music, chat and celebrity guests.

2011/12 Radio 2 Saturday mornings

Filmography[link]

Stand-Up videos[link]

• Live At The Roundhouse (19 November 2001)

Awards[link]

• 1999 : Gaytime Award for Gay Entertainer of the Year
• 2000 : BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance – So Graham Norton
• 2001 : BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance - So Graham Norton
• 2001 : RTS Television Award for Best Presenter – So Graham Norton
• 2001 : TRIC Award TV Personality of the Year
• 2002 : BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Perfromance - So Graham Norton
• 2011 : BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance – The Graham Norton Show ^[17]
• 2012 : BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance - The Graham Norton Show

References[link]

External links[link]

• Graham Norton Radio 2 at BBC Programmes
• The Graham Norton Show at BBC Programmes
• Graham Norton at the Internet Movie Database
• Graham Norton at the British Film Institute's Screenonline

This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (February 2012)

Max Keiser
Max Keiser in a London taxi
Born	Timothy Maxwell Keiser (1960-01-23) January 23, 1960 (age 52) New Rochelle, New York
Education	NYU
Occupation	Journalist
Notable credit(s)	Hollywood Stock Exchange, People & Power, The Oracle with Max Keiser, Karmabanque
Relatives	German and Scottish Ancestry, Hugh Maxwell, V 1777-1860
Website
http://maxkeiser.com

Timothy Maxwell "Max" Keiser (born January 23, 1960) is an American broadcaster and film-maker. He hosts Keiser Report, a financial program broadcast on RT (formerly Russia Today).^[1] Keiser also anchors On the Edge, a program of news and analysis hosted by Iran's Press TV.^[2] He hosted the New Year's Eve special, The Keiser's Business Guide to 2010 for BBC Radio 5 Live.^[3] Keiser presented a season of The Oracle with Max Keiser on BBC World News. Previously he produced and appeared regularly in the TV series People & Power on the Al-Jazeera English network. He also presents a weekly show about finance and markets on London's Resonance FM, as well as writing for The Huffington Post.^[4]

In addition to his broadcasting work Keiser is known for his invention of "Virtual Specialist Technology", a software system used by the Hollywood Stock Exchange.

Early career[link]

Keiser has been involved with markets and finance for 25 years. He started his career as a stock broker on Wall Street after graduating from New York University.

Hollywood Stock Exchange[link]

Keiser is the creator, co-founder and former CEO of HSX Holdings/Hollywood Stock Exchange, later sold to Cantor Fitzgerald.^[5] Alongside Michael R. Burns, he co-created the Hollywood Stock Exchange, ^[6] which allows traders to exchange virtual securities, such as "MovieStocks" and "StarBonds", with convertible virtual currency, the Hollywood Dollar.

Keiser is also the co-founder of HSX films, which went on to make almost a dozen films including Mixed Signals, Six-String Samurai, Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 and Girl. The company was bought by Ignite Entertainment/Lionsgate.

Broadcasting career[link]

Keiser presented Rumble at the Box Office^[7] for NBC's Access Hollywood. He also produced and hosted the weekly talk show Buy, Sell, Hold for CBS radio's KLSX in Los Angeles. Currently, he presents The Truth About Markets on Resonance 104.4 FM in London and on RDU 98.5 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

[edit] People & Power

Keiser produced ten short documentary films covering aspects of financial markets for Al Jazeera's series People & Power.^[8] The films include Rigged Markets,^[9] Money Geyser,^[10] Death of the Dollar,^[11] Peaked,^[12] Extraordinary Antics,^[13] Savers vs Speculators,^[14] Banking On It,^[15] Private Finance or Public Swindle?^[16] and Focus on Locusts.^[17]

[edit] The Oracle with Max Keiser

A pilot episode was produced for Al-Jazeera English titled The Oracle. This was developed into a series for BBC World News.^[18] The series first aired on 9 January 2009 and ran for ten episodes. It explored financial current affairs from the perspective of prediction markets. It was intended to be a humorous take on financial news before it happens.

[edit] On The Edge

A weekly financial commentary show which started in 2009 and is broadcast on Press TV, featuring interviews with well known alternative economists.^[19]

[edit] The Keiser Report

Since September 2009, Keiser has hosted The Keiser Report with financial news and analysis, on the RT network. The 30-minute program is produced three times a week. Stacy Herbert is the co-host and banters with Max on headlines and commentary.^[20]

An episode broadcast in September 2011 featured an interview with comedienne Rosanne Barr who stated that her solution to the financial crisis was to "bring back the guillotine".^[21]

Financial punditry[link]

Keiser has appeared as a financial pundit on a number of news networks. Keiser called for a "fatwā" against Hank Paulson^[22] on Al Jazeera in response to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In a later broadcast Keiser said "Paulson stinks".^[23] Keiser has advised investors to buy silver bullion and physical silver, promoting the metal as a store of value.

Activism[link]

Karmabanque[link]

Keiser founded the hedge fund Karmabanque, which sought to profit from any decline in equity-value of companies that are susceptible to boycott from environmental groups.^[24] The hedge fund's progress was followed monthly in The Ecologist magazine.^[25] Its targets included Coca-Cola^[26] and McDonald's.

The Karmabanque hedge fund project was designed to simultaneously short-sell companies while funnelling profits into environmental and ethical-business pressure groups which further act to drive down the price. Describing the project Keiser stated, "The Internet allows people, activists, from all over the world to gather, or swarm, and hit a company where it hurts most - in their stock price".^[27]

Extraordinary Antics[link]

In the Al-Jazeera short film Extraordinary Antics,^[28] Keiser travelled to Milan and Venice to find out how CIA station chief Robert Seldon Lady and his fellow CIA agents spent $500,000 on a procedure known as extraordinary rendition - a practice which is illegal and caused an Egyptian citizen, who had been granted asylum in Italy, to be abducted in order to face torture in Cairo.

The CIA was prosecuted for the case and Mr. Lady was found guilty in a Milan court. He was sentenced on 9 November 2009 to nine years in prison according to the Guardian.^{[citation needed]} This verdict was upheld on appeal. The US refuses to extradite Mr. Lady to Italy.^[29]

Crash JP Morgan - buy silver[link]

Max Keiser has labeled JPMorgan "the biggest financial terrorist on Wall St" in relation to their alleged manipulation of the price of silver.^[30] Keiser started a campaign called "Crash JP Morgan - buy silver",^[31][32][33] whereby people buy silver, thus raising its price and leaving JPMorgan with a huge short position to cover, the margin of which are collateralized by JPMorgan's own stock price, bankrupting itself. Based on the collateralization of silver by the price of its shares and his allegation that JPMorgan's position is an overwhelmingly large naked short position, Keiser predicted that the a per-ounce silver price exceeding JPMorgan's stock price will not only crash JPMorgan but unsettle the underpinnings of the dollar, which he claims are essentially confetti.

Adweek magazine described Keiser as "the most visible character in an underground movement that has spurred hundreds of blog posts and videos, and played some small part in driving up the price of precious metals".^[34] However, Keiser's prediction that JPMorgan would go bust if silver hit 47 dollars has failed to materialise, drawing criticism from the financial community.

Criticism[link]

• The Guardian newspaper, in an item titled "Mad Max", described Keiser's Karmabanque hedge fund as a "fantastical scheme" and accused him of trying to exist "beyond the normal forces and controls of society".^[35]

• Keiser drew criticism at the 2000 ShowBiz Expo in Las Vegas when he said of media content that "Everything is inescapably going to a price point called free". In response Kevin Tsujihara, executive V.P. of New Media at Warner Bros., commented that "Piracy.com" will be the victor if superior content is available on sites supported by advertisements.^[36]

• In 2005 Steven Milloy, the "Junk Science" commentator, demanded that Keiser be removed from the panel of the Triple Bottom Line Investing conference, where he was scheduled to appear. Milloy accused Keiser of making threats against his organization^[37] and petitioned sponsors Calvert Investments and KLD Research & Analytics to withdraw from the project.^[38] Robert Rubenstein, founder of conference organiser Brooklyn Bridge, stated that Keiser's comments "do not constitute a threat to person or property and are not related to the conference or the content that will be presented there".

• Referring to Keiser's Karmabanque project, a spokeswoman for Ryanair said, "Since they put Ryanair on their list our share price has gone up by 10%. We are always delighted to be part of a list which includes Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Wal-Mart".^[39] However, on the same day The Hindu published an article in which Howard Millar, Ryanair deputy chief executive, admitted that his company may be vulnerable to environmental pressure groups, stating, "I am concerned that there is a continuing media campaign and the concern is that people might say 'maybe I will not fly on holiday and maybe I will make a different choice'".^[40]

See also[link]

Biography portal

• Error account - a term often mentioned by Max Keiser
• Central bank or Reserve bank
• Gold standard - where paper currency is backed up by the value of gold
• Hollywood Accounting

References[link]

External links[link]

• MaxKeiser.com Max Keiser's website
• chaostheorien.de Interview with Max Keiser at chaostheorien.de